"Prices for tires about 3.5 meters (11 feet) across, used on the Caterpillar Inc. trucks that haul iron ore and coal, have touched $100,000 on the spot market, according to Leighton Holdings Ltd. (LEI), a contractor for mining companies including BHP Billiton Ltd. (BHP) and Anglo American Ltd. Prices rose as high as $150,000 in 2008."

## Fault lines/flashpoints/military ##

Sadrists campaign to bar US troops from civilian buildings in Iraq"BAGHDAD // The Shiite cleric Moqtada Al Sadr is leading a campaign to bar US troops from cities and government buildings to pressure Baghdad and Washington to remove American forces from Iraq by the year-end, officials said."Members of Mr Al Sadr's political movement have asked about 10 provincial councils in central and southern Iraq, including the capital, Baghdad, to pass resolutions to keep US forces out of cities and Iraqi facilities."Pakistan stops US from using drone base

"Pakistan has stopped the United States from using an air base in the southwest of the country to launch drone strikes against militant groups, according to the country's defence minister.

"Ahmed Mukhtar told journalists on Wednesday that US officials had been told to leave the Shamsi base in the southwestern province of Baluchistan, Pakistani state media reported."

Chinese Mongolians protest again, herders beaten: rights group"BEIJING, June 30, 2011 (Reuters) — Chinese police beat up and detained ethnic Mongolian herders who protested over the weekend against pollution caused by a lead mine, an overseas rights group said on Thursday, in the latest unrest to strike China's remote Inner Mongolia."

China cracking down on rights lawyers: Amnesty"Beijing has unleashed an 'uncompromising' assault on China's legal profession, targeting human rights lawyers in an effort to head off social unrest, Amnesty International said Thursday."The move was a bid to control rights lawyers who take on sensitive cases as fears mount that uprisings in the Middle East and North Africa could take root in the world's most populous nation, the rights group said in a new report."

"An uncontrolled renewable power expansion in Germany could threaten the stability of energy grids, the head of energy agency Dena told Reuters on Wednesday.

"Failure to connect new capacity near demand centers or near transport grids or storage facilities would waste assets or put at risk the grids' stability, said Dena's director, Stephan Kohler, in an interview on the sidelines of a sector conference."

"With half the world's known reserves of oil and gas sitting in the fields of Saudi Arabia, Abu Dhabi, Qatar and the rest of the region, not many people think of the Middle East as having problems with energy."However, analysts at HSBC said that low, subsidized prices across the region are driving fuel shortages and this means the major producers in the region are going to need to spend huge amounts on new refining capacity to meet demand."

"As metal prices continue to climb, theft along Germany's railways has reached record levels. The missing parts are not only dangerous, the delays and cancellations they cause are damaging Deutsche Bahn's reputation."

"Computer security experts say they have detected what appears to be the world's largest-ever computer 'botnet,' a network of millions of computers controlled clandestinely by a criminal cyber gang with roots in Eastern Europe.

"No one yet knows for sure just how many million 'zombie' computers are under the thrall of this still-unnamed massive botnet, but it sprawls across 172 countries, according to Unveillance, the Wilmington, Del., botnet-tracking firm that announced the discovery Wednesday."

Jihadist web forum knocked off Internet"A popular jihadist Internet forum has been knocked off the Internet, and counterterrorism experts say it appears it was hacked."Cybersecurity analysts say the al-Shamukh forum appears to have been taken down by a fairly sophisticated cyberattack that hit not only the website, but the server — which is the main computer that enables people to access the site over the Internet."

"The country's manufacturers have been working around the clock to rebuild facilities and get back into production, even with reliable power scarce as utilities work to restore infrastructure back to full capacity. Despite these efforts, experts say it could take years before Japanese industry returns to pre-disaster production levels."

"An invasion of jellyfish into a cooling water pool at a Scottish nuclear power plant kept its nuclear reactors offline on Wednesday, a phenomenon which may grow more common in future, scientists said."

Cargo theft report shows more organized load heists"Electronics, building supplies and food remained top targets for thieves in the months of March through May, even though organized crime is dipping into cargo theft more, a recent report says."..."The most targeted products, FreightWatch said, were copper, steel, aluminum, laptops, televisions, computers, audio equipment, chicken, beef, candy and frozen food."Smaller Businesses Seeking Loans Still Come Up Empty"Small businesses expected 2011 to be the moment a years-long credit freeze would finally begin to thaw. But borrowing has only gotten worse."

"[The manager] said the reason El Paso residents have experienced so many small power outages in the past few weeks is that many of the transformers were not built to handle new appliances like large-screen television and refrigerated air conditioners. Once people add these appliances to their homes, the load becomes too heavy for the transformers and they blow out."

"'It's very difficult to find the right person, and there's all walks of life trying to find jobs. I honestly think there's a large swath of unemployable,' said Russo, whose firm manufactures and supplies analytical standards. 'They don't have any skills at all.'"

"Trouble is, things are not likely to go well. There is no plausible growth rate that will make it possible for the Greeks to 'grow their way out' of this debt. All they can do is default, one way or another."

"Conclusion: The seeming inevitability of the coming Chinese Crash is surely the largest and most significant economic story of the upcoming decade. Look for concerted, regular coverage in your local newspapers and periodicals ... Not."

Russia cuts off power to Belarus"MINSK, Belarus (AP) — Russia cut off electricity supplies to struggling Belarus over unpaid bills on Wednesday, raising the heat on its economically struggling neighbor."

France supplying weapons to Libyan rebels"France has begun supplying weapons to the Libyan rebels despite the UN arms embargo, confirming on Wednesday it had dropped assault rifles into the Nafusa Mountains south-west of Tripoli."

China lambastes Japan after Taiwan boat confrontation"BEIJING, June 29, 2011 (Reuters) — China's Foreign Ministry lambasted Japan on Wednesday after a confrontation between a Taiwanese fishing boat and a Japanese coast guard vessel near a group of disputed islands in the East China Sea."

Iraq can barely handle oil security in south"BASRA, Iraq, June 29, 2011 (Reuters) — Iraq is barely capable of protecting its vital oil infrastructure and could falter if its oil police do not get enough manpower and sophisticated security equipment soon, a senior Iraqi security official said."

And what are they protecting? Iraq's oil infrastructure is a pile of rusting junk. -- RF

Brazil and China Battle Over Copper in Africa"Brazil and China are heading for a battle of strategic necessity over copper in Africa that will leave the winner walking away with the most expensive acquisition of a diversified minerals company."

"Middle East military jets equipped with state-of-the-art surveillance technology are being disguised as commercial aircraft to enable them to operate discreetly, defence experts told Arabian Business."

Tohoku Electric, the utility that serves northeast Honshu, has determined its current maximum output to be 12,300 MW, which is more than 40% below its pre-disaster capacity of 21,100 MW. Maximum predicted demand in August is 13,000 MW to 13,800 MW. Rolling blackouts could become necessary if conservation can't hold down demand.

President of Kyushu Electric says that because the Genkai reactors are off line, supply is tight, and the breakdown of even one thermal plant could bring supply below demand if the weather is as hot as it was last year.

Automakers Begin Designated Weekday Shutdowns"TOKYO (Kyodo)--Japan's auto industry began designated weekday shutdowns Thursday, with three major automakers closing their plants through Friday as part of efforts to save electricity."

"Japanese factory output jumped by the most in almost 60 years in May as manufacturers restore supply chains damaged by the massive earthquake and tsunami in March, the latest evidence the economy is headed for a "V-shaped" recovery from the disaster."

A V-shaped recovery? From what? Japan's collapse started 20 years ago. This is nothing but noise. -- RF

"An increasing number of financial institutions are vying to make loans on commercial real estate now. But many buildings are still drowning under heavy debt loads, leaving few properties that can support new borrowing."

News Links, June 29, 2011

"In the postwar years, there was a belief in developed economies that each generation could expect to have materially better living standards than their parents. Yet the outlook for income growth has rarely looked worse than it does today."

Debt saturation and energy decline make it inevitable. And it's going to get worse as the global "growth-economy" Ponzi scheme continues to unravel. -- RF

No bailout Plan B, EU warns Greece"The European Commission insisted today it isn't bluffing over the euro crisis - if Greece does not vote for more austerity tomorrow there is no more EU bailout money."

"NEW DELHI—India's companies are scaling back spending and curbing expansion plans this year, putting a dampener on the country's economic growth, in an unintended consequence of interest-rate hikes aimed at stemming inflation."

"NATO is running out of munitions to use in the Libya conflict. Now the German government is willing to supply weapons to its allies, despite its fundamental opposition to the war, SPIEGEL ONLINE has learned. The defense minister has already approved a NATO request. "

"Dubai, the second-largest of seven sheikhdoms in the United Arab Emirates, has stopped supplying gasoline to its neighbors as subsidies on fuel prices squeeze the city's ability to service and repay debt.

"Emirates National Oil Co., a Dubai government-owned refiner and operator of service stations, closed filling points in neighboring Sharjah and restricted supplies to other northern emirates last week. Dubai has $16 billion of publicly held debt maturing later this year, International Monetary Fund data show."

38 years of nuke profit up in smoke?"Tokyo Electric Power Co. faces a potential damages bill exceeding its profits from nuclear power generation over a 38-year period beginning in 1970, the year it opened the crisis-hit Fukushima No. 1 plant, according to a recent study."

"More than 10,000 retail jobs face the axe as the British high street faces one of its most painful bouts of contraction since the second world war amid the biggest squeeze on household budgets for decades."

"When commercial nuclear power was getting its start in the 1960s and 1970s, industry and regulators stated unequivocally that reactors were designed only to operate for 40 years. Now they tell another story — insisting that the units were built with no inherent life span, and can run for up to a century."

Moody's: Greek Banks Have Lost 8% of Deposits"Greek banks have lost about 8 percent of their private-sector deposits so far this year as customers worried about Greece's potential debt default transferred funds abroad or bought gold, Moody's said Monday."

Kofu, capital of Yamanashi Prefecture, is left with a heavy bill for the repair of and power for aging street lights which declining shopping arcades can no longer maintain. The cash-strapped capital city is wondering how long this can continue.

"TOKYO (Dow Jones)--Kansai Electric Power Co. (9503.TO) said Monday it is unsure if it can restart by July 1 the 900-megawatt No.1 unit at its Maizuru coal-fired power station in western Japan, which has been offline since May 30 for unplanned maintenance.

"The outage of the big thermal power unit may worsen an expected power shortage in the Kansai area amid the continued suspension of the utility's nuclear power reactors."

Disposal of radioactive debris a headache for Fukushima Prefecture"A lack of storage space and incinerators and fierce disagreements over final disposal sites--municipalities in Fukushima Prefecture face extreme difficulties in disposing of tsunami debris contaminated with radioactive material leaked by the crippled Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant."

"China's local governments had amassed 10.7 trillion yuan ($1.65 trillion) of debt by the end of last year, Liu Jiayi, auditor general of the country's National Audit Office, said Monday. That's equal to more than a quarter of China's 2010 gross domestic product of 39.7983 trillion yuan."

"NAJAF, Iraq (AFP) – Supporters of Shiite radical leader Moqtada al-Sadr have offered to carry out suicide attacks against US troops in Iraq, his office said Saturday, as a year-end deadline for a US pullout looms."

This might just be put on the back burner — to keep simmering — like the Shirakaba/Chunxiao gas field dispute between Japan and China.

New anti-China protest in Vietnam"Almost 100 Vietnamese rallied in Hanoi on Sunday for a fourth consecutive weekend to protest against China's role in an escalating maritime row between the communist neighbors."

"Natural gas companies have been placing enormous bets on the wells they are drilling, saying they will deliver big profits and provide a vast new source of energy for the United States.

"But the gas may not be as easy and cheap to extract from shale formations deep underground as the companies are saying, according to hundreds of industry e-mails and internal documents and an analysis of data from thousands of wells."...

"'The word in the world of independents is that the shale plays are just giant Ponzi schemes and the economics just do not work,' an analyst from IHS Drilling Data, an energy research company, wrote in an e-mail on Aug. 28, 2009."

## Japan ##Japanese parents fume over Fukushima radiation impact"Angry parents of children in Japan's Fukushima city marched along with hundreds of people on Sunday to demand protection for their children from radiation more than three months after a massive quake and tsunami triggered the worst nuclear disaster in 25 years."

"Thousands of protesters opposed to mining and energy projects in southern Peru have taken over a commercial airport as the government struggled to restore calm a day after five died in a clash with police.

"Officials said that approximately 3,000 protesters had occupied the runway at the Juliaca airport in the region of Puno on Saturday. Several hundred police officers retreated to avoid another clash after weeks of protests over a controversial Canadian mining project."

Dozens march for freedom in Saudi Arabia: YouTube"DUBAI, June 25, June 25, 2011 (Reuters) — Dozens of people wearing white shrouds have staged a peaceful march in the oil-producing region of eastern Saudi Arabia, demanding basic rights and the release of prisoners, according to a video posted on YouTube."

Greek Power Workers Ordered to Obey Court Order"Greece's Energy Ministry called on the union at Public Power Corp SA (PPC) to abide by a court order directing the striking workers to bring a number of power units back online."The defiance of the order to the GENOP-DEH union to bring capacity back to June 23 levels is "creating a shortfall which places the stability of the system in a critical situation", the Athens-based ministry said in an e-maied statement. The shortage led to extended power cuts today and yesterday, when Public Power sought to have the strike declared illegal, according to the statement."

Tanzania announces indefinite power outages"Tanzania's state-run power company has announced daily 12-hour power cuts for an unspecified period because of low water levels at hydropower dams and a shortage of fuel for thermal power generation."

"A wave of pharmacy robberies is sweeping the United States as desperate addicts and ruthless dealers turn to violence to feed the nation's growing hunger for narcotic painkillers.

"From Redmond, Wash., to St. Augustine, Fla., criminals are holding pharmacists at gunpoint and escaping with thousands of powerfully addictive pills that can sell for as much as $80 apiece on the street."

"Nobumoto said automakers may be unable to secure enough parts for their planned production increases, which are expected to go into high gear this autumn, 'depending on the supply of electricity.'"

Toyota considers operating plant on industry's designated holidays"Toyota Motor Corp. is considering operating a factory on the auto industry's designated holidays, joining other leading automakers in exempting itself from a nonbinding agreement to stop plants on Thursdays and Fridays during summer to save electricity, company officials said Friday."

"Import tariffs on gasoline and fuel oil will both be lowered to 1 percent from the previous 5 percent and 6 percent, respectively, while tariffs for diesel and aircraft fuel will be cut to zero, the ministry said in a statement on its website."

China's ticking time bomb"The fast-growing economy is fueled by low-paid migrant workers who have watched others profit from their sweat. How much longer will they be willing to do it?"

## UK ##

New crackdown on militant unions"Ministers are drawing up plans for a harsh new crackdown on unions to be brought in if this week's strikes over changes to public-sector pensions develop into a full-scale summer of discontent."